RFE/RL Mourns Death of Former President

(Prague, Czech Republic — January 9, 2008) RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin expressed regrets on the recent death of Glenn W. Ferguson, who served as the third president of the merged RFE/RL, Inc. from 1978 to 1982.

Gedmin said, “Ferguson’s time in office was one of change for the Radios. Ferguson oversaw the company’s streamlining of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty into a single administrative structure. He guided RFE/RL through one of its greatest challenges–the bombing of RFE/RL headquarters in Munich on February 21, 1981. Throughout his tenure and by all accounts, Ferguson led the organization with a deep, sincere commitment to the people of RFE/RL and the cause of freedom and democracy they served.”

A former ambassador to Kenya who had also served as the first director of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Ferguson headed three universities before succeeding Sig Mickelson as head of RFE/RL, Inc. After leaving the Radios, Ferguson served as president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York and as president of the American University of Paris. Ferguson died on December 20, 2007.